We ran a race, and got a cat!

I saw a sign for Tremonton Turkey Trot--admission:  food pantry donations the day before the race, and thought I would go run, and maybe get Spencer or Emily to come along.  Before I knew it, everyone but Maddie was jumping in on it though! It was a great sunny day, and though we were NONE of us very fast, it was fun to all participate in something fun together.  I was a little sad Maddie didn't want to join us, but grateful that she could stay home with Jane, and REALLY grateful, when we realized we'd locked the keys in the van, that she could drive over to deliver the spare.  We all got free T-shirts, cow bells, tons of cocoa, and above average exercise for our fit crew :).

 

 We managed to clean out our garden and yard that afternoon, before Brian and I got ready for Ward Temple night.  I was really lamenting the fact that Emily was pretty sure she heard a mouse in her room the night before, and wishing it were kitten season, since a bunch of people up here have cats and don't think outdoor pets are strange.  We had a great night up at Logan Temple, and enjoyed getting a bite with 4 other couples on the way home,-- enjoying comfortable company like that felt SO good!! I got a text from one of the couples after we got home, "Are you still up? Guess what I found in my garage?"--I had mentioned my mouse plight in the car, and seriously, a half-grown kitten was in their garage when they got home---without me even having a choice, they brought it over with a towel, and said if we didn't want it, we could put it back outside, since that's where she'd started! We held her for a while, then left her in the garage in a box w/ a towel, and some food and water, surprising the kids (after we checked to make sure she was still there) Sunday morning.  They were all pretty ecstatic, and even with the freezing weather, everyone's found a lot of excuses to go out and love her.  There has been a lot of fighting on names, so we had to let it rest for a while, but I think we're stuck on Winnie.

Happy Halloween and the family Party Planners

Hooray for a Halloween on Saturday!--no rush getting kids fed and costumed, etc., etc., the only drawback was how many costumes Lucy could change into before actually trick-or-treating.  I thought it would be such an easy-going holiday! AND THEN, ANNE & LUCY, as they were "playing house" Friday after school (which is literally 90% of their waking time at home) talked about having a Halloween party, and before I knew it they were making REAL invitations, and begging me to be able to go and deliver them all.  They had hand-written 7 or 8 of them with marker on white printer paper.  Honestly, I was in the middle of the book, and mostly wanted to keep reading.  I tried to explain that parties took a LOT of planning, and their friends needed more notice, but that maybe we could have a fun turkey party before Thanksgiving? Plus, the invitations said the party started at 10:30, and that lunch would be served! "What will you serve for lunch?" But Anne had an answer for everything. She drew a line through the lunch service part, made a list of all of the activities they could do, agreed to clean the house for it, and I just relented! When they got home, and told me how many they had left on porches (any time there was no answer, OR if there was a car in the driveway, and they didn't want to interrupt?!), I figured we may have a neighbor or two come over to play, which is no different from any other day, so no big deal.  That night though, I did get a couple of texts from Moms wondering if I knew they had dropped the notes off, and thankfully thinking it was adorable that they were so unguided! I still figured we'd have 4 kids tops.  The girls got their jobs done that morning, and Spencer and Emily joined in the fun baking cookies to decorate while I contributed some Candy Corn banners for the window (I'm sure every child's favorite part!).  And would you believe, we had 6 children show up?!! Anne ran them through all of the games until noon, when two of the boys were begging me to convince their parents that they could miss the basketball game and stay at our house all day ;).  The whole thing was a hilarious hit--and I learned a lot from my 7 year-old about party planning---I spend WAY too much effort on things that don't matter, and the fun part--getting everyone together is really simple and worth it! (Yes, I even got anxious at this one, and snapped a few times before people started coming b/c of too many diapers on the floor or dishes in the sink--I have a long way to go!).  Anne REALLY thrived at being in charge of her own thing like that--most days I just want to ask her to take over for me ;).

Her activity list and the bats she had cut out to decorate

We had Jack-O-Lantern pizza for dinner since I'm the only fan of dinner in a pumpkin around here, and then watched Batman between trick-or-treating shifts.  The older children had a little wave of homesickness not being able to have that zany kind of fun they'd enjoyed with longtime friends the past few years, plus, it's been long enough that you kind of get that feeling of, "Ok, I've been a good sport about this, can we be done being "new" now?--and it doesn't just go away. The littles were a good pickmeup though, and overall, it was a fun day.

40th Birthday!!...Surprise!!

I turned 40!!! I decided to splurge a little, and take the family to a corn maze and out for mexican (they have mole in Brigham City!!).  Brian made a cake, and it was a beautiful evening (October is awesome!), and a lot of fun! The kids were darling giving sweet gifts and cards to me that night, and Brian has given me a memo board for the wall (still nailing out the details on that one).

And Then....
The next weekend, Stacey said Dad & Kathy were in town, and wanted to have lunch w/ all of us, & so could we come over Sat. afternoon? I said, "No, we've got a neighborhood Halloween party that night I've committed to going to!" but we figured there would be about an hour we could fit in.  (I wondered why we couldn't just meet in Odgen or somewhere a little closer), and then it turned into eating dinner at Nate and Stacey's--just the adults, AND Nate & Stacey didn't even eat w/ us since they are on a disciplined eating plan! It was fun to be together, but as we left to get back for the party, I just thought, "That was kinda weird?" I had arranged to pick up some apples from Ann Anderton's while we were in Syracuse--I was hoping to get them on our way down, but Brian insisted on the way home would be easier, so I went along with it, and as we pulled up, my brain went into some warp mode as I saw a "Happy 40th Birthday" sign, and thought, "Oh, the Snarr's van is here; I don't want to interrupt while they've got company, and that's ironic that it's someone else's birthday!--and when the Anderton kids ran out to greet me, it started to dawn on me that maybe I was supposed to be at this party, but all I could think was, "What is Brian thinking??--we've GOT to get to that party, and we only have about 10 minutes!"  Finally, as these sweet Syracuse friends yelled, "Surprise!!" and Brian said, "By the way, the Brown's know we're not going to make it to the party" it all came together, but as slow as my brain was to function, I'm worried the age thing might be real!! It was a fun night, and SO thoughtful of Brian to cleverly pull together with help from friends and family.  Relationships are everything!

Octoberbest

Fall has been SO beautiful this year--especially here in our town full of old trees and rolling valleys up against the mountains, but I know these above pictures don't really capture any of that.  They only show what a dangerous driver I can be, and how happy Spencer is to throw leaves for the camera ;).

Other than a cool night getting to clean the temple w/ Brian & some ward members--basement to roof!!, all I can remember from October is from pictures, so here's a little smattering of what we we've been up to:

For Fall Break, we still had enough home projects to stay busy with (Brian and Brent worked hard getting the Basketball hoop cemented in by the driveway!) but a few of us did check out the HUGE Brigham City Bird Refuge one chilly, drizzly day--they have Jr Ranger backpacks full of nets, magnifying glasses, and other kits and guides free to rent, a great visitor's center, and lots of bird nature.

 Maddie joined in a group for the Girls Choice dance at School (Halloween costumes:  Red Riding Hood & the Woodsman)

 Brian was honored for serving on Syracuse City Council w/ a cool clock and (look on the screen) being formally included in the minutes one last time.  Such a great experience being able to serve that way.

 Lucy made a great "O" Octopus in Kindergarten, and we got some great apples in Perry for a great batch of applesauce.

 Jane's hair has grown long enough for pigtails and some bad Mom bang-trimming (not pictured), and Emily is our in-house braiding expert--were all of these hair intricacies just invented??? I don't ever remember there being so many varieties!!

 Spencer's been very active with his joint scout troop (they combine a couple in the area since there are sometimes too few boys a certain age)

AND... Maddie got her Driver's License!!!--6 months before her 18th birthday :)